Kickin' It: Gaylighting
by livejournal
Summary: When Jack suffers from amnesia after a skating accident, his friends try to convince him he's gay. How far will the deception go?
1. Chapter 1

Jack was skateboarding on a beautiful afternoon. As he approached a stairwell, he decided to test out his skills. But he felt the board slipping from beneath his feet and he crashed into the pavement.

He opened his eyes and was confronted with the fluorescent lights of a hospital room. Kim was sitting at his bedside with a "Get Well Soon" balloon. She shouted, "He's awake!" when she noticed Jack had regained consciousness. His sensei, Rudy, and the rest of the Wasabi Warriors rushed in to see him.

"Where am I?" Jack asked.

"You had a nasty fall on your skateboard," Kim explained, "we had to bring you to the hospital. How are you feeling now?"

"I'm okay. By the way, who are you?" Jack demanded.

"Jack, it's me, Kim!" Kim replied, exasperated.

"Sorry, I don't know anyone named Kim," Jack said. Rudy intervened.

"Hey Jack, this is Rudy, your sensei," Rudy said, hoping to jog Jack's memory.

"My _sensei? _I haven't done karate in two years. Did Kai put you up to this?" Jack replied with suspicion.

"Go get the doctor," Rudy said to Milton.

The doctor evaluated Jack and diagnosed him with a form of temporary amnesia. He could remember his name and a few deeply ingrained memories, such as his frictional relationship with his cousin Kai. But the rest was a blur.

"I'm going to talk to Jack one-on-one for a little while," Dr. Sanchez said, "I'll let you know when he can see visitors again." The Warriors took the hint and left the hospital room.

Rudy had to attend to some business back at the dojo. Kim, Milton, Jerry, and Eddie headed to the cafeteria to debrief.

Milton was reading about Jack's condition on his iPad. "Listen to this, guys," he said, "temporary amnesia means the patient has forgotten most of what makes them tick. They can develop aspects of their personality that were not present before the onset of memory loss. In some cases, patients have even experienced _**a change in sexual orientation**_ after this sort of amnesia!"

The whole group laughed. "Guys, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Jerry then added.

"We'll try and convince Jack that he's been gay this whole time?" Milton replied.

"Oh, I was thinking that this pudding is really hard to open but… _whoaaa_, Milton, let's do it!"

"Hey, hey, wait!" Kim interrupted. "There's no way that's going to work. Jack is the _**opposite **_of gay!"

"Then there's no risk in trying," Milton said.

"I don't know. This seems kind of mean, guys." Kim replied.

"The doctor said his condition would probably only last for 48 hours. Jack always gets all the girls. He can afford to be gay for two days," Eddie interjected.

A smile slowly spread across Kim's face. Something inside of her encouraged her to go along with the boys' plan.

"Okay, I'm in. 48 hours and then he'll be straight again," she said, partially reassuring herself.

"There's a pretty big chance this may not even work in the first place," Milton warned.

An hour and a half later, the group returned to Jack's room after having stopped by the newsstand for some items to comfort him. Jack was lying comfortably in his hospital bed, watching a reality TV show.

"We got you some things to keep your mind off all this," Kim said to him.

"Some of your favorite potato chips, a can of soda, and the latest issue of _Males by Mail._"

Jack smiled as he looked over the snacks. "Wait, what was that last thing?"

_Males by Mail _was a soft-core magazine featuring steamy photo spreads of the hottest celebrity men.

"Yeah, I had to wink at the cashier before he'd let me buy that one," Kim said, "but it always makes you feel better, so I went for it."

"There's no way I read that," Jack said.

"Oh, it's our little secret," Kim joked. They said their goodbyes and left Jack alone.

Jerry turned to look back once they were outside of the room.

"Look," he said. The group turned around.

Through the frosted glass window, it was clear that Jack was flipping through the gay magazine.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack opened his locker and was taken aback to see that posters of One Direction and a shirtless Ricky Beaver were affixed to the interior of the door. He was beginning to realize that he must have been gay during the time he had forgotten. It was confusing because he had never had feelings like that before.

But maybe it wasn't any more surprising than everything he had discovered about himself in the past day, that he lived in this strange town and was doing karate again and had some... _interesting_ friends at a high school he had never seen before.

"'Sup, bro? Having any luck remembering stuff?" Jerry appeared out of nowhere and asked, resting his arm on Jack's shoulder.

"No, I still have amnesia."

"Oh, ok, so you don't remember anyone like, stealing your yogurt at lunch or anything, right?" Jerry asked. Jack gave him a knowing glare.

"Well, anyways, the principal said you can follow my schedule while you reacquaint yourself with the school."

Jerry's favorite class was theatre, where they were performing a modern adaptation of Romeo & Juliet. He was in the role of Romeo and loved the fact that Donna Tobin played his lover. But today she was out sick, and the theatre director was panicking. Who could play Juliet? The teacher scanned the room and his frustration melted into excitement when he noticed Jack.

"Jack Brewer! Perfection!" He cried. "Let's really get innovative - what if we do a gay take on the play?"

Jack was hesitant, but his classmates began to chant his name. He made his way to the stage next to Jerry. He was handed a script and they began the read-through.

Jack was not a particularly good actor, and he had trouble pronouncing some of the Shakespearian words. But he and Jerry shared a sort of magnetism that made the archaic dialogue seem immediate and real.

"Bravo! Bravo! Your energy is so raw, your chemistry so real. Oh Jack, you must take one of my classes!" the instructor enthused.

In gym class, they were playing tag football. Jack and Jerry were on opposing teams – Jack was shirts and Jerry was skins. Seeing all of the shirtless athletic boys, Jack began to wonder if he was getting used to this whole homo thing.

Jack caught the football and started running towards the other end of the gym. Jerry forgot the rules of the game and tackled his friend. For a few seconds, his hot and sweaty muscular body was smothering the newly-gay Jack, and the skater boy decided to enjoy it.

Back at the lockers after school, Jack felt dizzy as the Warriors were chatting with him. His head was full of visions of Jerry, naked and on top of him. He lost control of his body and passed out, collapsing onto the floor.

Jack opened his eyes and saw Kim standing above him. Her golden hair reminded him of an angel, pulling him out of the darkness of his unconscious and back into the light.

"Jack... can you hear me, Jack?" Her twangy voice only somewhat detracted from that vision.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"Just a few seconds," Kim replied, then helped him up. "Let's get you to the nurse."

Jack was still unstable on his feet. He liked the way Kim supported him by wrapping her arm around his waist as they walked to the nurse's office.

The nurse ordered Jack to stay at home, at least until his amnesia had faded.

Just one day had passed since he had forgotten about their existence, and Jack was already developing feelings for two of his friends – both Jerry and Kim.

While Jack was resting, the Warriors were gathered in the hallway.

"I'm out!" Kim declared. "I have to tell Jack everything. He can't handle this right now."


	3. Chapter 3

"Look, Kim, we all had our reasons for doing this," Eddie explained, "and I know yours. Jack was starting to get close to some other girl and you thought you could keep them apart for a while if he was gay."

Kim grimaced, but didn't deny it. "Want to know my reason?" Eddie continued, "I was jealous of him always being number one, the hero, the guy who has it all. And I am quite sure there's someone here who did this because they have a crush on him—" Eddie shot a look at Milton.

"Go ahead and tell him, Kim. But he's never going to trust us again, and he'll probably just stop talking to all of us. Is that what you want?" Eddie asked. Kim shook her head, grudgingly. No one would be telling Jack, at least not yet.

Before any further discussion could be held, Jack emerged from the nurse's office.

"I'm headed to the dojo," he said, "maybe working on some karate moves will activate my memory."

"Know how to get there?" Kim asked. Jack shook his head. Kim led him and the rest of the group to the mall.

Rudy set up a few boards and began to show Jack some karate basics. Soon enough, however, Jack was in the swing of it and his skills were as sharp as they were before the accident.

After practice, Kim invited Jack – and only Jack – to go to Falafel Phil's. He agreed.

They were sitting across from each other, and Kim started playing footsie with him.

"So, Jack, you're looking really healthy… like nothing ever happened. You're looking really good." She said, trying to put on a flirty voice.

"Whoa, Kim, easy!" Jack exclaimed, backing away.

"What's the problem? Don't you like girls, Jack?"

Jack stood up and bolted. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he had to be away from people for a while.

He wandered around Seaford for some time when it started to sprinkle. The rain got heavier and Jack had an idea. He texted Jerry and asked if he could come over.

"Ofc," Jerry texted back.

"Send me directions," Jack requested. Jerry sent him a pin with his address. Jack used the map on his phone to find his way to his friend's house.

"You're soaking, bro," Jerry observed when he responded to Jack's knock on the door and saw that every part of him was dripping wet. "Get in here."

"Are your parents home?" Jack asked after stepping inside.

Jerry shook his head. "Why?"

"We need to talk," Jack replied.

"Let's put your clothes in the dryer first. You can go into my room and wear something of mine for now." Jerry said.

Jerry showed Jack to his room and closed the door to give his friend some privacy. Jack looked around Jerry's closet. He peeled the wet clothes off his body, then found a pair of fresh underwear. Then he noticed an oversized jersey and decided to wear that. It was long enough to fall about halfway down Jack's thighs, so he could maybe get away without wearing pants. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Jerry took Jack's old clothes. "I haven't worn that thing in years," he said, referring to the jersey. He glanced down and noticed Jack's smooth legs.

Jerry made hot chocolate and the two sat on his couch in the living room.

"So what's up?" Jerry asked.

"Was I… _gay _before my accident?" Jack inquired.

Jerry got big eyes, but then considered his answer for a minute and knew what to say.

"The truth is, you never came out or anything, but all of us were pretty convinced. We thought if we just acted like you told us already, you'd feel more comfortable talking about it and maybe clear it up for sure." Jerry replied.

Jack was quiet for some time. Then he spoke. "Well, I should be honest then, too. I don't really know if I'm gay. But I do like a boy."

"Who is it?" Jack blurted.

"Well, he's fluent in Spanish—" Jack started, and then he laid down into Jerry's lap. "…but he's not all that good at Karate…"

"Uh… Milton?" Jerry asked.

"_**Dude**_, it's you!" Jack replied.


	4. Chapter 4

Jerry was not sure how to respond to Jack's advances. He had always considered himself 90% straight, and Jack was the reason for the remaining 10% - Jack was the exception.

"I don't know, Jack, it's not like I'm, you know—" Jerry stammered.

Jack sat up. "You don't have to be anything," he started, "it's just us, it's just here, it's just now. You know I'd never tell anyone."

Suddenly the sound of the Macarena filled the room. It was Jerry's cell phone. He answered it.

"Hey, what's going on? … Oh, no worries, he's right here with me… Um, Kim, I don't know if now's a good time—" He pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it. Kim had hung up on him.

"Really, Jerry?" he muttered to himself.

"Jack, it was Kim. She was driving around looking for you. And now she's on her way over. She was at the mall, so she'll probably be here in like, five minutes." Jerry explained.

Jack frowned slightly. "Five minutes? Okay."

He stroked the side of Jerry's face with his right hand. "Then that gives us enough time to do this," he said, leaning forward and kissing Jerry on the lips. Jerry was surprised but excited and soon enough they were full on making out.

Jerry started to rub Jack through his underwear when Jack broke the kiss.

"You don't want Kim to see us like this, naughty boy," Jack said.

"You're right. Now go put on some pants," Jerry suggested.

Two minutes later, there was a knock at the door. It was Kim.

"Hey Jerry," she said when he opened the door. Jack was standing a few feet away in the living room.

"Jack," she said acknowledging his presence. Jerry showed her inside.

"Jack and I are just sipping hot cocoa and watching the lightning. I'll get you a cup." Jerry offered. Kim nodded.

After Jerry left the room, Kim turned to Jack.

"Look Jack, I'm really sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have put you in that position. It was rude," she apologized.

"No problem. Sorry I took off on you like that," Jack said.

"Platonic hug?" Kim offered. Jack accepted, and they hugged just as Jerry was returning to the room.

"We had a disagreement earlier, but we just made up," Kim explained to Jerry.

"You did _what?_" Jerry demanded.

"Made _**up**_, Jerry!" Jack clarified, knowing his friend was thinking Kim had said "made out."

After that, the three talked freely, almost like normal. Jerry and Kim shared Jack's funniest moments at the dojo.

"…yeah, Rudy even told Bobby Wasabi about it, and Bobby called you Mr. Bug Smasher for a week!" Kim said and the group burst into laughter.

"Guys, look at the time. I better get going." Kim said as it started to get dark outside. It was still raining, so Jack asked if Kim could give him a ride home. She agreed.

"Oh, Jack, wait! Don't forget your clothes!" Jerry exclaimed. He went and got them from the dryer, putting them in a laundry bag for Jack to take home.

The three said their goodbyes and Jack and Kim headed for the door.

"Thanks Jerry… for _everything,_" Jack said and closed the door behind him.

Kim was jamming to the radio on the way to Jack's house. Suddenly, Jack had a vision. It was of a bracelet Kim had given him.

"_You know I've always thought of us as more than…"_ Kim had said in his vision.

"_More than what?" _Jack remembered asking her, but for some reason there was no reply. He didn't know if this was real or imagined.

"Hey Kim, can I ask you something kind of weird?" Jack said. Kim nodded, but she worried it was going to be about his sexual orientation.

"Did you ever give me like, this kind of, black bracelet?" he asked.

"You mean the _friendship _bracelet I gave you? Yep. Do you remember it?" Kim replied.

"It's funny, I do actually." Jack said. Kim smiled.

They pulled up in front of Jack's house.

"This is it," Kim said.

Jack took the laundry bag and started to close the car door. Then he turned to Kim.

"Thanks Kim… for _everything_," he said and slammed the door shut.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack and Kim were late to join their fellow Wasabi Warriors in the cafeteria.

"Sorry guys," Kim apologized to the group, "Jack and I had to stay late and finish our lab in Chemistry."

Jack stifled a laugh. "I don't think the teacher was expecting the kind of reaction our volcano got..."

"You mean it wasn't supposed to explode all over him?" Kim joked.

"I think what really took him by surprise was how much... _chemistry_ there was between us!" Kim said.

"Swing and a miss," Jack teased. Kim playfully punched his arm.

"Get a room, you two!" Eddie interjected.

In between classes, Jack made his way to the bathroom. He entered the stall, locking the door, and started to relieve himself.

"Need me to hold your dick for you?" said a voice from behind, startling Jack. He quickly zipped up and turned around to see Jerry standing there.

"How did you get in here?" Jack asked.

"I crawled under the door." Jerry replied. He moved closer to Jack, leaving just a few inches between them. Then he squeezed Jack's ass. Jack resisted the temptation to let the muscled Latino have his way with him right there. He wanted to see how far he could take things with Kim.

"Cut it out, man. What's going on?" asked Jack.

"I want to finish what we started the other night," answered Jerry.

"Remember what I told you? Whatever happened between us was just for then and there. We're not a 'thing,' Jerry. I'm sorry." said Jack.

"Is this because of Kim?" Jerry demanded.

"This has nothing to do with Kim." Jack lied.

Defeated, Jerry crawled back under the stall door.

"You could've just unlocked it, you know." Jack said.

"I-I knew that. I was just... making a point!" Jerry retorted.

Later, Jerry noticed Kim at a picnic table outside, talking with some of her frenemies on the cheerleading squad. He approached.

"How you doin', girls? Can I steal Kim away from you? We need to chat," he said.

"Can you give us a minute?" Kim said to the other girls, and they left.

"What's going on?" Kim asked Jerry.

"I have just one thing to say to you, Kim. And it's going to rhyme, so pay attention," said Jerry as Kim crossed her arms.

"Stay the **_hell_** back. From Jack."

Kim became indignant as soon as the words came from Jerry's mouth.

"Oh, no you did not just do that. I can't believe you'd have the audacity, to be so bold as to look in my eyes and..."

"Kim." Jerry interrupted. Kim was known to lose control of her rants.

"Jack isn't gay you know," Kim said, "the plan isn't even working. So you can stop pretending you have a chance with him."

"Oh, yeah? Then why did he kiss me the other night?" Jerry asked.

"You're lying," Kim said.

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that," Jerry replied. Kim stormed off.

Kim found Jack in the hallway and invited him to study for an upcoming test together at the library that evening. He agreed.

At the scheduled time, they found each other at the library and got out their notebooks. Before they could begin, Kim spoke up.

"Do you think people should be forgiven when they make mistakes?" she asked.

"Of course," Jack answered.

"Even the bad ones - the mistakes that affect their friends?"

"It depends," said Jack, "what are we talking about here, Kim?"

"I need to come clean about a big mistake I made. It involves you," said Kim.


	6. Chapter 6

Kim told Jack everything that she and the other Warriors had done since Jack's accident, but she embellished and claimed it was all Jerry's idea.

"Why are you lying to me?" Jack demanded.

"I'm not lying," Kim replied.

"_Jerry's _idea? Just the other day you told me he showed up to your Walking Dead marathon in running gear. Now you're trying to tell me he's this big schemer?"

"Whether you want to believe it or not, Jack, everything I'm telling you is the truth," Kim said, "why would I lie?"

"I don't know. Maybe you're jealous," Jack answered.

"Of what?" Kim inquired. The librarian approached and told them they could either stop talking or be kicked out.

"No worries. I was just leaving anyways," Jack said, and headed for the door after gathering his things.

Jack was lost. Not in the literal sense, but in the sense that nothing felt familiar and his thoughts were all jumbled. Tired and confused, he noticed that he was unconsciously following the path to Jerry's house.

Jerry heard a knock at his door and leaped off the couch to answer it.

"Um, Jerry, I wanted – I was going –" Jack yawned as he tried to put together a coherent sentence.

"I get it. Don't say anything else," Jerry said and motioned for Jack to come inside.

"Bro, you're not looking so good. Better lay down," Jerry suggested to the visibly worn out Jack. Jack nodded, and Jerry led the skater to his bedroom.

"Lay with me," Jack said after he climbed into the bed. Jerry obliged. He ran his fingers through Jack's hair as the cute black belt fell asleep.

The nap only lasted for twenty minutes. Jack opened his eyes and took a moment to reacquaint himself with his surroundings.

"Hey," Jerry said.

"Hey," Jack replied. They spent a minute or two enjoying each other's closeness. Then Jerry spoke.

"Look, Jack, we have to get real for a sec. You are the kindest, swaggiest, and uh, _karate-est _person I know. You're the only dude on earth I dream about. But I'm just worried that I'm, like, a placeholder for you, that you're holding out for a better offer. Feel me bro?"

Jack considered his response for some time. "Alright," he admitted, "I wanted to go out with Kim. But I've been doing a lot of thinking. I woke up and was in this world that I didn't understand. You're the person who's been there for me, who's guided me through it… And now I realize that sometimes the best offer is the one that didn't even seem like an offer in the first place," he explained.

"I just want to feel normal again. Because I hate what I feel like now," Jack added.

"You know what might make you feel better?" Jerry asked.

Jack shook his head. "What?"

"Rubbing one out. Releasing some of that tension. We get porn with our cable. So what do you say, Jack? Maybe we can make it a contest," Jerry offered.

Jack smirked. "Okay," he answered, "I guess I am a little horny." Jerry shot him a look. "Fine, I'm _really freaking horny_!" They erupted in laughter.

Jerry found the remote and switched on the television. He was flipping through channels when Jack demanded he go back to the local news station.

"What? What is it?" Jerry asked.

The headline on the screen read, _GUNMAN HOLDS UP SEAFORD LIBRARY._

"Jerry, Kim could still be at the library! Oh, god!" Jack cried.

"Calm down… let's figure this out," Jerry reasoned, trying to wrap his head around the situation.

"I can't believe it! This is all my fault!" Jack exclaimed.


End file.
